Traces of Words: Art and Calligraphy from Asia

Traces of Words was one of the first exhibitions I worked on at MOA, and it was a really interesting one to approach as a designer and typographer. The exhibition asked visitors to look at words not only for what they meant, but as images and objects in themselves.

A big idea in the show was the ephemerality of language — words appearing, disappearing, changing and becoming fragmented over time. I wanted the graphics to have some of that same quality. They needed to feel delicate and present, but not so designed that they started competing with the artwork.

I ended up using a fine serif typeface and light grey vinyl applied directly to the walls. There were six artist statements shown in both the artists’ own languages and in English, so for many visitors the Japanese, Tibetan, Thai and Dari text also became something visual: shape, rhythm and texture as much as language.

For the title wall, I used translucent grey frit to repeat and reverse parts of the title behind the main lettering. Depending on where you stood and how the light hit it, parts of the title would become very clear or almost disappear. I liked that it never looked exactly the same twice. It felt like a simple way to carry the exhibition’s ideas about language, memory and fragmentation into the space itself.